Sparks that start the fire
by siriuslymerlin
Summary: An anthology of Jana and Jimi, the most unlikely pair of Stoneybridge. Because when she flashed those big green eyes at him, he could only respond with his devil-may-care smirk.
1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1: Jana

What is this feeling, so sudden and new? I could feel it, when I laid eyes on you. My pulse is rushing, my face is flushing. What is this feeling? Fervid as a flame, does it have a name? Yes. Loathing.

\- What is this feeling: wicked

All around Bradlington High, students milled about, waiting for class to start and complaining about it. Jana and her friends were no exceptions. As of current, they were piled onto the couches of the darkroom, bemoaning going back to class after such a lovely spring break.

"I'm so tired," whined Maddy, slumping her head back against the wall. A chorus of agreement sounded.

"Ugh, and I can guarantee that Jefferies has some big project planned," Rhydian mumbled. The blonde boy leaned his head against Maddy's shoulder and looped an arm around her waist.

"None of that lovey-dovey stuff!" Jana cried playfully, chucking her knit hat at the couple. Rhydian smirked at her, and pulled Maddy closer, planting a big kiss on her cheek. Maddy, giggling now, shoved him off and made a big show of wiping her cheek. The boy grinned and took hold of her hand.

"You two are the worst couple ever. Always touchy-feely and sweet! Makes me wanna barf," Tom commented. Of course, he was wound around Shannon in a way that wasn't exactly polite around company. Shannon nodded in agreement.

"Come off it! You're practically melded together!" Maddy shot at her best friends. Shannon blushed, but Tom only shrugged.

"Well, I think you're both disgusting," Jana stated. Her friends all laughed and Jana smiled, though it felt hollow. She was happy that her friends were together and happy; she just wished they wouldn't be so obvious all the time. The bell rang then and the group began the tedious process of getting up and going to class, grumbling all the way. They shuffled into the room and paired off; Maddy and Rhydian took the desk near the window, Shannon and Jana sat beside them, and Tom sat with Sam, not too far away. Jimi had his new mobile out, and was obnoxiously showing it off, basking in the glow of attention. Just then, the K's flounced in, and sat in a cluster at the center of the classroom. The noise in the room increased as desk mates talked with each other and those around them. Shannon was emphatically describing her families camping trip.

"Settle, students, settle," Mr. Jefferies had just walked in. "Now that we've had a good break, it's time to get to work!" He walked around, passing papers out. Jana picked up the sheet and internally groaned. The word "partner" was written in bold across the top. Maddy would go with Rhydian, and Shannon would go with Tom. With her luck, she'd end up with some poor sap. Upon further examination of the paper, she gleaned that it was a massive project, worth 60% of their grades. Jefferies went back to the front of the room and began explaining. They were to be assigned a topic concerning the history of Stoneybridge, which would be part of the Stoneybridge Tercentennial. The project would last all the way until the tercentennial, the day before exams started and school let out. After his rather long explanation, he picked up another sheet, this one filled with names. Jana waited, anxious; she had a shot to be with one of her friends if the list was assigned. Jefferies began rattling names off, and Jana listened for the sound of her name or her friends.

"Shannon with Kara, literature"

Jana smirked at both girls look of disgust and shock.

"Tom and Rhydian, art"

The boys grinned at each other and high-fived.

"Maddy and Harry, music"

Maddy offered a smile to Harry, to which he answered with his signature head nod.

"And finally, Jana and James, ecology."

Jana's mouth dropped opened in shock, there was no way she could work with the stuck up, rude boy.

Jimi's hand shot up, an angry look on his face.

"Sir, I can't work with her, you have to reassign partners!"

The class laughed, well aware of the history between them.

"Sorry James, but partners are final. You'll have to learn to get along."

Jimi muttered a dejected "yes sir" and sulked at his desk, occasionally looking up to glare at Jana, as if this was her fault. Class went on, but Jana barely listened, instead worrying about her project. The bell sounded for lunch and everyone exited, jovially talking. Jana walked with her friends, who were talking about the project.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with Kara! And on literature, which I'm sure she knows nothing about. I'll probably end up doing the whole thing!" Shannon vented, angrily shoving her books into her locker.

"We got pretty lucky. And Rhydian's an artist so this should be a breeze," Tom boasted, clapping the blonde boy on his shoulder.

"Harry's alright. I suppose he knows plenty about music," Maddy said. Rhydian smirked at her.

"I don't have to worry about you two falling in love right?" He joked.

"Well, when he falls for someone, he falls hard and fast," Shannon observed. The smile fell off of Rhydian's face then, and was replaced with a slightly panicked look. Maddy laughed and cuffed the back of his head.

"Don't worry, you prat! Shannon's teasing," the brunette giggled. He relaxed then, a sheepish smile settling on his face.

"You lot are lucky! I'm stuck with Jimi! I'd rather be in a group with all the K's than Jimi!" Jana whined, pouting.

"Yeah, well I don't want to work with some gypsy freak like you anyways," snarled Jimi, who had appeared quite suddenly behind Jana. She whirled around to face him. He shot her his fiercest glare, eyes shining with hate, and, if Jana wasn't mistaken, even a little hurt. He shoved past her rudely, leaving her no time to respond. Jana stared after him, wide-eyed and a little guilty.

"Leave it Jana, he's not worth it," Maddy's voice was soothing and quiet; she'd mistaken Jana's rigid posture as hostility, instead of shock.

"Yeah alright, let's just go to lunch," the red head sighed. The little group went off towards the dinner hall, talking about anything except the project.

Break

Class went on without much event, though Jimi took every opportunity to hurl rude comments at Jana. He mocked her clothes, though she wore the same uniform as the rest. He poked fun at her wild red curls, sharp nose, and bright green eyes. He trashed her supposed gypsy heritage, though she really didn't understand that. A little rudeness between the two was expected, but Jimi was taking it really far, so much that he had been reprimanded several times thus far. Jana figured she'd better apologize for whatever was making him so angry. If there was one thing she'd learned about the human world, it was the fact that a sweet smile and a sincere apology could make almost everything better.

After classes had finished for the day, Jana quickly ran to find her friends, if only to tell them she'd catch up with them. She dashed out into the courtyard, and scanned around to find Jimi scowling at his phone, alone.

"Jimi!" She called. He looked up, but seeing that it was Jana, he turned back to his phone, scowling hard.

"Jimi, I wanted to talk to you," she explained.

"Tough, I don't talk to freaks like you," he said, tilting his nose up.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have said that, it was mean. I won't mind working with you. I'll even do most of the project if you like," she offered him her best smile. He looked rather taken aback, like he'd never been apologized to before.

"Er, that's alright. It's fine. I shouldn't have made fun of you so much today," the confusion didn't leave his face as he said the words. Jana's answering smile was so brilliant, he couldn't help but to offer her one of his own.

"I'll see ya," Jana tossed out the goodbye as she dashed off to where her friends had congregated by the footie field. Jimi's eyes lingered on her retreating figure. She wasn't so bad, he decided. He could make do with her.

"What was that about?" Shannon asked as soon as Jana came close.

"I had to apologize. I think hurt his feelings, which would explain why he was so horrible today," she said. Rhydian laughed, "Jimi doesn't have feelings, he has an ego."

"Still. And anyways, one more crack at me and I would have torn him apart," Jana explained, though the words left a strange taste in her mouth. She could this. She was sure she could handle Jimi for few weeks. Anyways, what was the worst that could happen?


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2: Jimi

I don't hate you, for being you. But can you blame me for hating it?

~ A little less sixteen candles, Fall Out Boy

Life, Jimi decided, boiled down to ringing. The ringing of his alarm clock told him to get up and face another day. The ringing of the school bells kept him entrapped. The ringing in his ear meant he had disappointed his father, again. The only ringing he couldn't place was the soft, almost hum in his head when Jana apologized to him. That ringing hadn't stopped yet, and he didn't mind as much. It distracted from all the other noise.

When his father came to collect him, shortly after Jana had gone, the hum shielded him from the harsh buzz of his father's voice.

"Come quickly! I'm on a tight schedule," of course, there was no prelude to the greeting. No hi-how're-you or anything a son might expect from his father. He got into the car fast, and without a word. Minutes passed in silence as his father drove a little too fast for the current road. Jimi contemplated turning the radio on.

"Did you get your marks back for your math test?" His father asked in flawless Cantonese.

"No, not yet," Jimi answered in English, even though he had received his marks. He had done well, better than the rest of his class, but he knew it wouldn't be enough to please his father. The silence continued until they had reached their house. His father dropped him off and took off, probably headed to another meeting. Inside, the house was quiet, like always. A sort of moroseness settled over the boy. Another quiet evening in, he supposed. All by himself with nothing but homework to keep him occupied.

ↄↄↄ

For Jimi, time meant very little. He got up, went to school, hung out with his mates, studied late into the night, and barely slept. It was a continuous cycle. Today had started normally enough, with him arriving at school at 7 on dot, but his timeline altered when Jana flounced up to him, all red curls and ill-hid smiles.

"Hiya!" Jimi gave her a confused look; Jana never talked to him unless she was yelling at him or insulting him.

"Er, hi," Jana fought her smile off and crossed her arms.

"We have to discuss how we're doing the project," she told him, all playfulness gone from her. Jimi nodded, only just remembering they had a project together.

"Er, wanna come round tonight? We can discuss it then," Jimi scanned around, hoping no one was watching this exchange. Jana narrowed her eyes, not missing what he was doing.

"Fine," her tone was clipped and on the verge of anger. Jimi quickly scrawled his number and address onto a spare scrap of paper and pressed it into her hand. She shoved it into her pocket carelessly.

"Bye," she turned and dashed before he had a chance to tell her bye as well. Before he could dwell on it further, Sam and Liam came running up, like loyal dogs. He straightened up, donned his most pretentious smirk, and mentally prepared himself for whatever idiocy came his way. Today, Liam blathered on about the football match last night. Sam boasted about his date last night with Kay. When he went into detail about it, Jimi forced down a laugh. He knew Kay wouldn't do a thing Sam insisted was true. As predicted, neither lackey caught on to his boredom. The conversation continued, but Jimi's attention spread to the rest of the playground. The K's took center stage on the benches near the door. Rhydian and his friends messed about on the edge of the playground. Harry Averwood and his group were surrounded by girls, of all years. The bell sounded, and Jimi was grateful; he didn't have to be out here, bored. Classes went on as normal, his space time continuum restored. Jimi received his science marks, were substantially less than perfect. He angrily shoved his test into backpack, fuming. No matter how hard he tried, he just didn't understand science. Biology might as well be Latin for all he understood. Chemistry was a blur, and physics was just painful. To add insult to injury, people he least expected to be smart aced those classes. Kara always earned full marks with Jana not too far behind. If Jana, who didn't really earn high marks could excel in science, then why couldn't he?

Oddly enough, he thought of Jana often that day. He snuck furtive glances at her when no one was looking. He watched her during lunch, not caring what Liam or Sam thought. When the bell rang to signify the end of the day, Jimi ran off without his mates in hopes of catching Jana. After putting on an extra burst of speed, he caught up to her.

"Jana, hey," he was just the slightest bit breathless.

"Hi," her tone was just the slightest bit exasperated.

"Wanna come round now?" He'd convinced himself that it was only because his father wasn't picking him up today and both Liam and Sam were busy. She sighed, looked around, and Jimi's heart froze.

"Yeah, alright, let's go," she finally said. He worked hard to school his expression into one of confidence and boredom, his signature look. For the most part, they walked in silence, but it was comfortable. He felt no need to bombard her with his achievements of the day. She felt no need to start up conversation. They reached his house in the same manner: quiet.

He led her up to his room, trying and failing, to relax his heartbeat. It was unnaturally fast, like he was nervous or something. But this being the case was absurd. There was no way he was nervous to be around plain, dim, gypsy freak Jana.

An hour later, raised voices could be heard coming from Jimi's room. As predicted, the pair was arguing.

"We need to research, you dingbat! This is a research project!" Cried Jimi.

"What good is research to nature? We have a whole forest full of history right outside and you don't want to use it?" Asked Jana, incredulous.

"We don't have time to go frolicking through the forest, being one with the weeds! We have to get out research done! We have to have a written paper!"

"We will! We'll research in nature! What have you got against a he wilderness anyways?"

"Nothing! But the trees aren't going to tell us exact dates and times of events! Unless you can speak to the trees?" His question was mocking and the last straw for Jana. She let loose a guttural growl, and shoved him hard. He found himself flat on his back, wind knocked out of him. His heart pounded wildly, something he'd never felt before. He pushed himself up weakly to see Jana stalking out of his room, presumably on her way home. It was then he noticed she was wearing a skirt. He watched, a little entranced, as it swished around her thighs, fluttering up and falling back down. His pulse raced on ahead, while tried desperately to catch his breath.

That night, when he went to bed, all he could think of were wild red curls, flashing emerald eyes, and swishing skirts.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hi guys, long time no update. The only real excuse I have for you is life happens. Senior year took me by storm and I was swept away with it. For whoever stuck to the story, or is currently reading it, you have my immense gratitude. Please know that from here on out, updates will be sporadic, but they will happen. My goal is to let you know when the next update will happen as each chapter gets posted. Thanks guys, for being understanding. Enjoy the next installment!

Ch. 3 Jana

Let's be friends, I'm dying to see how this one ends

-Taylor Swift

To say Jana reacted badly would be an understatement. Her temper had gotten the best of her and black had already started climbing up her veins when she shoved the boy. His heart rate soared with fear, becoming loud enough to drown out all other noise. She all but ran out the room in her haste to get away and didn't stop until she had made it far into the woods nearby. It was only then she calmed, and decided to walk back to her lonely little flat. She had been set up with a little flat back when wolfbloods were well cared for and had kept it ever since. As soon as she arrived home, she locked the doors, shut the windows, and set up for a nice, soothing soak in the tub.

Break

The next day, thankfully Saturday, passed quietly. Jana hung out with her friends at the Kafe, in the woods, and at Maddy's place. She got her homework done, and had Sunday dinner with the pack. She managed to put all thoughts of Jimi from her head enough to feel harsh embarrassment at what had happened. He wouldn't forget about this. He'd tease her relentlessly until she cracked, which could only result in her attacking him, and she'd get the full blame for the whole, convoluted fiasco.

Monday morning she woke with a sense of dread that nested in the pit of her stomach. She made her way to school and found her friends sitting on the benches outside the doors.

"Hiya!" She greeted, to which she received greetings and smiles back at her.

"Hey, Jana, how's it going?" Asked Maddy.

"It's alright, but I've had better days," she replied. Maddy nodded knowingly; the new moon, which completely drained her power, was due in a few days.

"I can feel it approaching too," added Rhydian, who had just popped up to them.

"Where have you been?" Asked Tom.

"Relax. Look what I've got," the boy held up a large folder.

"A great big folder, how exciting," Tom deadpanned.

"No you twit, it's a portfolio. It's got tons of artwork in it from artists all around town," Rhydian said. Tom grinned.

"I knew you'd pull through!" Tom boasted, clapping Rhydian on the shoulder. The girls laughed in response and Shannon pulled the folder towards her.

"Woah, these are amazing! Have you got any of your things in them, Rhydian?" She asked. The wolfblood in question went pink.

"Ah well, I'm not a real artist," he muttered. The rest of the gang all vehemently agreed that Rhydian was, in fact, a real artist.

They lapsed into comfortable chatter then, waiting for the bell to ring, which it did quickly. They all made their way to class. Today, the boys sat together and Shannon and Maddy paired off, leaving Jana by herself in the desk next to the girls. People filled in and Jana fortunately found herself with a whole desk to herself. She looked around to see if everyone was here and to her surprise saw that Jimi was missing. Then, as if just thinking about him made him appear, Jimi rushed in, flushed and out of breathe.

"Cutting it close James," Mr. Jefferies warned.

"Sorry sir," the boy muttered. He scanned the room for an empty seat then scowled, walking towards Jana. He threw himself into the seat and promptly pulled out his things, glaring at them as though they had offended him. Jana was acutely aware of the boy, and she had a sneaking suspicion he was aware of her as well.

Break

"Jana!"

Jana walked on determined to ignore the voice.

"Oi, Jana!"

Her jaw set, and she settled into a fast pace.

"Jana!"

Amazingly, Jimi had caught up to her and managed to grab her shoulders.

"Oh Jimi, I didn't hear you," Jana put on a simpering voice and a matching smile. He only scowled in response.

"I've been trying to talk to you all day!" He told her. She simply shrugged in response.

"Can't be seen with you at school. My friends might think I'm bonkers!" Jana knew her words were cruel, but there was a twisted gratification in taking Jimi's attitude and throwing it at him. His jaw dropped and he glared daggers at her. Jana shifted uncomfortably, her conscience making an appearance.

"Alright, you've got me, talk," her voice had lost its bravado, making her sound like herself again.

"Look, about the other night," now it was Jimi's turn to feel uncomfortable,

"I'm sorry alright. I should have listened more. We have to work together if we want full points,"

Jana nodded, a little dazed that he had even apologized.

"Okay Jimi. Let's do this properly," she softened considerably, almost to a smile. Jimi even deigned her proposal a little smile.

"We could start now, if you like. We could go to yours?" He asked.

"Err, let's go to the Kafe, I think it's closer," Jana's eyebrows knitted closer together, a sure sign of nerves. Jimi frowned slightly, he'd thought they were past being embarrassed to be seen with each other. At least, he was; almost the whole class had seen him blow off his friends to go chasing Jana through the woods. Though, when he really thought about it, it seemed she wasn't so much embarrassed to be seen with him more as she was reluctant to invite him to hers. This struck a chord with him, but he ignored it and walked after her to the Kafe.

Break

Surprisingly, Jana and Jimi worked well together. Jimi was excellent at research, and had already compiled several articles and reports on the topic. Jana grouped them together by idea and began writing notes on them. An hour passed by in near silence, with occasional words exchanged between them.

"Alright, I've had enough," said Jimi, stretching his arms above his head.

"Want a coffee?"

Jana looked up, surprised.

"You're offering to get me a coffee?"

Jimi scowled, "if you don't want it, fine."

"No, no, I'm sorry, I'd love a coffee," Jana tried to sound sincerely apologetic, and flashed him a dazzling smile. He grinned back at her.

"Fine then, no need to beg," the words were very Jimi-esque but he meant no harm by them. In fact, they came with a teasing lilt. Jana rolled her eyes and got back to work. A few minutes later, Jimi came back with coffee and conversation. At first, he boasted to her, and Jana snarled back at him. However, it lapsed into a familiar banter that both of them seemed to enjoy.

An hour passed during which they talked, and laughed. Jana looked out the Kafe window to find the sun had almost set.

"Alright, it's getting dark. I've got to head home," she announced. She thought she saw a glimmer of disappointment in Jimi's eyes for half a second before it faded, but shook her head slightly and convinced herself she imagined it.

"I'll walk you," he told her. Jana's eyes widened.

"No!"

He looked at her, confusion and hurt rimming his eyes.

"Err, I mean, it's far and it's dark, you've got to be going too..."

His expression softened to an almost smile.

"If you're sure,"

"Yeah, I am. See ya!"

With that, Jana hurried off, an unexplained blush rising in her cheeks.

**A/N: **Ooh, could it be that Jana and Jimi are on their way to becoming friends? Tune in next time to find out! By next time I mean on or before the 31st.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ****Hello! It's been many months since I posted, but I honestly don't have an explanation. The inspiration for this story disappeared, but it's back! Updates will happen, I'm not quitting yet! Please enjoy!**

Ch. 4 Jimi

I'm taken away to the dark side, I wanna be your left hand man.

Vance Joy

Over the course of the next few weeks, Jimi spent a majority of his afterschool time with Jana. The worked on the project together, with Jimi typing up the written paper and Jana creating a beautiful presentation out of things she'd collected from the forest. They also did homework together. Jimi helped Jana out with her maths problem sets without so much as a teasing word. It felt good to have someone he could just be around, without being hyperaware of his every move. What Jana thought of him didn't matter, not really, not in the way it mattered what his classmates and father thought of him. It seemed that Jana thought in the same manner. She treated him no differently than she did her friends.

They sat together in Jimi's bedroom, putting together the final touches on their project when a thought occurred to Jimi.

"Why is it we always study round mine?" he asked. Never once had Jimi been to Jana's place, nor did he even have the slightest clue where she even lived. Jana shrugged her shoulders without looking up.

"Dunno, it's easier this way I suppose," she mumbled, hot gluing a branch to the poster's border.

"Still, I wanna meet your family," Jana looked up sharply at that and gave the boy a fierce glare he took to mean no.

"Why not? You've met my father." Qin-Gon had been rather taken aback when Jimi introduced Jana to him. The true surprise had been when he'd been impressed by the girl. He figured it had to do with Jana mentioning her love and aptitude for science.

"That was on accident. Besides, it's not like…" she trailed off, searching for the words.

"Like we're friends?" Hurt seeped into Jimi's tone, though he fought hard against it. Jana's expression softened and she sighed.

"You know what I mean," she turned away from him and Jimi schooled his expression into one of disgusted apathy.

"How could anyone know what goes on in _your _head, Jana?" he draw her name out rudely, making it sound like an insult. Jana glared at him, throwing down the hot glue gun and gathering her things. She paused for a nanosecond to snarl at him then left, slamming the door hard enough that it shook for several moments after.

One step forwards, two steps back.

Break

Jimi was pretty sure that even after he hadn't really done anything wrong, he had to apologize, which was horribly unfair. He got to school, already dreading what he had to do. Upon inspection, it seemed Jana wasn't even there, nor were her friends. He sighed. Maybe she'd forget about the next time he saw her and he'd be in the clear. All he'd wanted to do was learn more about her, though he wasn't sure why he wanted that. Suddenly, something attacked him behind and knocked him straight to the ground.

"Hiya!" Long red curls danced in front of his face and he groaned. How mad was she? Was it that serious?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to knock you down," She sprung up and hauled him to his feet.

"What's got you so bouncy," he asked, rubbing his elbow. Jana was indeed bouncing, sending her red curls in a spiral of movement. He watched them, entranced for a minute.

"Full moon tonight," she replied, tipping her head back and shaking out her hair.

"So? What's that got to do with anything?" Jana looked at him wide-eyed and guilty.

"Nothing I suppose," she told him, her playful mood dissolved.

"Do you still wanna come round tonight?" Jimi asked, unsure of how and why the mood kept changing.

"No, I've got things to do. And besides, the project is done," she sighed, stretching her limbs and rocking on her heels.

"There's a physics test tomorrow. Maybe we could study for that," This was Jimi's roundabout way of asking her to tutor him. He'd die if he had to say the words out loud. Jana stilled, deliberating.

"I suppose," She said slowly, "I'd have to leave early."

"Yeah alright," Jimi said, somewhat dejectedly. Then, Jana caught sight of her friends and ran off, leaping onto an unsuspecting Tom while the rest of the group laughed. Jimi smiled at their antics.

"So are you, like, dating Jana?" Jimi startled, turning to find all three K's staring expectantly at him.

"What?! No way am I dating that gypsy freak!" Jimi stumbled away from them, his face turning bright red.

"Well, you're always with her!" insisted Katrina. The others nodded.

"Did you lot forget the huge project we have for Jefferies? She's my partner," He explained, irrationally flustered.

"Well, my partner's Shannon, but I don't spend all day and night with her," Added Kara. Kay bobbed her head up and down, smirking at him.

"What's going on?" It was just his luck to have Sam and Liam walk up just now.

"Nothing, just the K's being dim as always," he shot them angry looks then ushered his friends away from the girls. Just then, the bell rang and Jimi was safe, at least for the school day.

After school, Jimi waited for Jana to meet him so they could walk to his place. He looked around, determined to not let what happened in the morning happen again. Thankfully, Jana seemed to lose some of her energy and walked up to him normally.

They walked in comfortable silence. Jana observed the trees they passed and the clouds passing above them. Jimi observed her. He noted how smooth the pale column of her neck looked. He carefully committed to memory the sharp incline of her nose, the soft look of her mouth, the way her eyelashes framed her big eyes. It wasn't weird, it was just… analysis. He told himself her felt nothing when he looked at her, that his observations were clinical. Amazingly, Jana never once noticed his scrutiny. The reached his house soon after, pausing only to get snacks on their way to his room.

"Right, so physics," Jimi started, though he had no idea where he was headed.

"It's not so hard. You don't have to think so much. Just use the formulas," Jana explained. Jimi huffed, annoyed.

"We still have to understand the formulas!" He snapped. Jana rolled her eyes and pulled the book into her lap.

"Okay let's start with this," she said, pointing to the formula for velocity. For the next hour, Jana explained distance, velocity, and acceleration in ways that unlocked the mystery for him. Quite suddenly, it was just math.

"Oh! Okay I get it! You just take the derivative!" he exclaimed when solving a practice problem.

"Yeah, only you can't exactly use calculus," Jana laughed. Jimi grinned at her.

"Easy enough," He finished solving the problem and handed it to Jana to check over. She pursed her lips, going over the calculations with her own calculator. After a moment, she passed it back to him, smiling.

"You solved it!" Jimi whooped in excitement and leaned over to engulf Jana in a hug. She stiffened automatically, so pulled back, looking at her hesitantly. Jana looked at the clock behind him.

"It's getting late, I've got to go!" she hurriedly threw her books in her bag and dashed down the stairs. Jimi scrambled after her.

"Wait! I'll walk you!" he called, but Jana was already sprinting away, cutting through the forest behind his house. Jimi stared after her.

One leap forwards, two chasms backwards.

**A/N: ****Hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you thought and give me your critiques and concerns in the reviews! Till next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: ****Ah yes, hello. Welcome back, or just welcome if you're starting this for the first time. I'm a college student, doling pre-med, so my time for writing is abysmally brief. But! I'm not giving up, so there will be updates, though I can't promise when. Nevertheless, please enjoy!**

Ch. 5 Jana

Check your handbook, it's no trick.

Vampire Weekend

The full moon was a relief. It felt good to shed her human skin for a while, running with her pack. Ever since Maddy and Rhydian had gotten back from Canada, they'd understood much better. There were no more reprimands about being human, or liking the wolf better. It was just freedom.

Or, it used to be.

Jana couldn't seem to get Jimi out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. The other two had tried to get her to play games with them, but the redhead had simply refused, curling up against a tree to ruminate in her thoughts.

Jimi had hugged her today, which was completely out of character for him. Whatever it was, it need dwelling on. Just then, Maddy yowled, loud and demanding, so she pushed the thoughts from her head with a firm hand. Maddy and Rhydian weren't too far away from her, playfully circling each other. Jana yipped at them, bounding over to join the game.

The next morning, when everyone had trudged back to Maddy's house for breakfast, Maddy grabbed her by the wrist outside the kitchen, and began dragging her upstairs.

"What's up?" Jana asked. She still felt very wolf-like, so her alpha pulling her aside for a private chat put her a little on edge.

"Are you alright? You were acting really off last night. It's not like you sit things out," Maddy said, concern coloring her voice. Jana bobbed her head and put on her brightest smile.

"Just fine, thanks! Just a bit knackered. I was studying for a while before the turn," she explained. Maddy's eyes turned kind and soft, and she returned the smile.

"Don't work too hard, yeah? We still need ya around!" With that Maddy thumped her back and ran back downstairs, towards the lovely smell of meat. Jana followed, feeling a little strange. She hadn't told a lie, but she still felt guilty, like she'd done something wrong. Her smile felt forced when the Smith family greeted her, but she couldn't understand why.

Break

Jimi wasn't in school the next day, and everything felt even more off-kilter. Jana sat with her friends, took notes in lessons, gossed about the K's, but everything felt wrong, like there was something she was ignoring. By lunchtime, she felt rather jittery and frantic.

It felt a bit like being on the move as a pup, back when she spent her days almost entirely as a wolf. She felt anxious and ready for a fight, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Maddy and Rhydian both had tried to talk her down, but nothing helped.

"Perhaps you're just hungry?" Shannon suggested. She patted Jana's head, which was nice, but not nearly enough to calm her. Tom looped an arm around her shoulders.

"Cheer up, mate, lunch isn't long now," he said, as if that would make everything better. Jana sorely hoped it would.

"And besides, it's Friday!" Rhydian told her, voice bright and enthused. "We're going camping this weekend!"

"Yeah, it'll be loads of fun!" Maddy chimed in. "We might even get to take a bit of a run, too."

"Thanks guys," Jana said, giving Shannon's hand a squeeze. The funny thing about humans, she'd learned, was they appreciated a good group cuddle as much as wolves did.

"What are you lot doing sat on the dirty floor?" Jana looked up to find the K's staring down at them. Of course, the group was sat on the ground, leaning against the lockers, but they didn't have to rude about it.

"What do you care, anyways? Don't you have primping to do, or something?" Shannon asked, sneering at Kara.

"We only came by because I needed to talk to ya about the project, you dimwit," Kara explained, turning her nose up. Jana hid a smile behind the sleeve of her cardigan; Kara looked rather ridiculous when she pulled that face.

"Have you done your share of the work then?" Shannon demanded, pulling herself up. Maddy rose alongside with her, so Jana heaved herself up too, for solidarity and that.

"Obviously, or I wouldn't be talking to ya!" The K's all laughed like it was the funniest thing anyone had ever said. Jana frowned; had not everyone finished the project? She and Jimi were done—all they had left was practicing the presentation—so she'd just assumed everyone else was done too.

"Have you not finished yet?" she asked, breaking Kara and Shannon's stare down. Kara scoffed, like Jana had one something wrong.

"Clearly not," she answered, clipped. "Why, have you?"

"Yeah, mostly. We've just have to practice the presentation, I suppose. Everything else is done." Now everyone was looking at her, wide eyed and surprised.

"Wow!" Maddy exclaimed. "You two got that done really quickly!"

"Blimey, Rhyd, we'd better get cracking," Tom sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. Rhydian only nodded, too astonished to say anything.

"Why is that surprising?" Jana hated this: when everyone else seemed to understand perfectly what was going on with talking about it whatsoever.

"It's just, we're a bit surprised you and Jimi could deal with each other long enough to get the entire project done. I mean, we've still got two more weeks to finish it," Shannon explained quickly, knowing how Jana hated feeling left out. Shannon was smart like that.

"Yeah, well, it's done," Jana repeated, a little lamely.

"You already said that," Kay told her, laughing cruelly. "Whatever, let's bounce, yeah?" With that, the K's walked away, strutting like they were on some kind of catwalk.

"Wow," Rhydian mumbled, laughing a little. "Jana's going to kick all of our arses if we don't get them into gear." The group laughed at that, patting Jana on the back proudly. Still, she didn't understand what there was to be proud of. She and Jimi had divided the work and done their share, albeit together. Well, in close proximity of one another.

How odd, that everyone else found that odd. Jana offhandedly wondered if Jimi found it odd.

Break

Jimi returned to school the following Monday, boasting about his weekend at his mother's place in London. Apparently, his mother had let him skip school on Friday, making everyone jealous. Jana didn't mind one way or the other, but that strange, off-kilter feeling dissolved after first period.

Jana and her friends sat at one of the picnic tables outside, enjoying the rare sunshine and sharing their lunch. Shannon had a bag of cheesy whatsits, and was passing them all around. Jana snaked a few, watching her classmates.

The K's basked in the sun, trying to tan. Katrina was carefully slicking obnoxious pink lip-gloss on. Jimi's group hung around them, flirting with them, and any girl that wandered past. Jimi held himself aloof, as he usually did.

Jana frowned a little; it was rather odd behavior for a boy of his age, wolf or human. Tom and Rhydian had already paired off, and most other boys in their class were looking for prospective mates as well. So why wasn't Jimi?

It was then he noticed Jana, who was staring rather intensely at him. Humans didn't care for such behavior, so Jana figured Jimi would sneer, and perhaps take the mickey out of her. She sighed, preparing for the ridicule.

None came, however.

Jimi smiled at her, lifting his hand in a lazy wave. Then, he turned back to his mates, like nothing happened.

"Oi, what're you staring at?" Rhydian asked, nudging her shoulder. Jana shook her head and ducked down, letting her hair fall around her face. Heat rose in her cheeks, and she forced it back, frowning deeply.

"What's up, Jana?" Shannon asked worriedly. Jana looked up at her, plastering a false smile on her mouth.

"Nothing, just thinking about the presentation," she lied. "I don't like speaking in front of crowds."

"Don't even fret," Maddy assured her, patting her arm. "You can practice on us if you like!"

"Yeah, maybe," Jana murmured, sneaking another look at Jimi. He didn't notice this time, but Jana felt a rush of heat rise up to her cheeks all the same. Weird.

The rest of the day passed in relative peace. Jana answered a biology question perfectly, beating even Shannon to the punch. She'd been proud of Jana, though, and wasn't resentful. Oddly enough, Jimi took particular notice. Jana could quite literally feel the intensity of his gaze on her.

After class, Jimi caught up to her, pulling her aside, into an empty classroom.

"Hey," he greeted her, trying, and failing to appear nonchalant. Jana cocked her head to the side, confused.

"Did you need something? Do we have to practice the presentation again?" she asked, frowning. Jimi huffed out a little laugh, but Jana wasn't sure there was anything funny.

"Yeah, we have to work on practicing the presentation," he told her, seemingly resigned. God, what was going on today? Jana had never felt so strange and off-base. She felt like she was only just understanding the human world, confused and wrong.

"Are you angry? Is something the matter?" Jana figured she should at least clarify, if she couldn't understand the nonverbal cues. Jimi shook his head, eyes wide.

"No! Of course not, I just thought that since… well, you were, er—never mind, it doesn't matter," he explained. Jana nodded; it was no use pondering Jimi's incoherency. Maybe Shannon and Maddy were right, maybe boys were just too strange to understand.

"Do you think it's odd that we've finished the project?" the she-wolf asked, flipping her long hair back. Jimi followed the movement, a little frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Nah. I just think we work really well together." Today's earlier confusion melted away in the warmth of Jimi's smile, and finally, Jana let herself relax.

**A/N: ****Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought about this update, any critiques or comments. Till next time!**


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